Accepted Manuscript

Analysis of blasting damage in adjacent mining excavations

Nick Yugo, Woo Shin

PII: S1674-7755(15)00005-0
DOI: 10.1016/j.jrmge.2014.12.005
Reference: JRMGE 129

To appear in: Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

Received Date: 21 October 2014

Revised Date: 3 December 2014
Accepted Date: 5 December 2014

Please cite this article as: Yugo N, Shin W, Analysis of blasting damage in adjacent mining excavations,
Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.jrmge.2014.12.005.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Analysis of blasting damage in adjacent mining excavations

Nick Yugo*, Woo Shin

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Yukon Zinc Corporation, Whitehorse, Yukon, Y1A 5X9, Canada
Received 21 October 2014; received in revised form 3 December 2014; accepted 5 December 2014

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Abstract: Following a small-scale wedge failure at Yukon Zinc’s Wolverine Mine in Yukon, Canada, a vibration monitoring program was added to the existing

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rockbolt pull testing regime. The failure in the 1150 drift occurred after numerous successive blasts in an adjacent tunnel had loosened friction bolts passing
through an unmapped fault. Analysis of blasting vibration revealed that support integrity is not compromised unless there is a geological structure to act as a
failure plane. The peak particle velocity (PPV) rarely exceeded 250 mm/s with a frequency larger than 50 Hz. As expected, blasting more competent rock resulted
in higher PPVs. In such cases, reducing the round length from 3.5 m to 2.0 m was an effective means of limiting potential rock mass and support damage.

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Keywords: blasting damage; vibration monitoring; adjacent tunnel development; dynamic loading of friction bolts; Jinduicheng Molybdenum; Wolverine Mine;
Yukon Zinc AN
into the stope behind a shotcrete arch barricade. After filling, mining
1. Introduction is carried out beside, over or under the paste.

Yukon Zinc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jinduicheng

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Molybdenum and operates the Wolverine mine located approximately

280 km northeast of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, as shown in Fig. 1.
The mine recovers ore from a polymetallic volcanogenic massive
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sulfide (VMS) deposit consisting of two ore zones on either side of a

largely barren saddle zone. The Wolverine and Lynx ore zones each
consist of multiple lenses with numerous cross-cutting faults. Current
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mining faces are accessed by a ramp extending over 200 m vertically

at a grade of −15%.
The ore is relatively competent massive sulfide rock with an
average geological strength index (GSI) of ~40. The ore, however, is
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highly fractured and faulted in some zones reducing its competence.

The hanging wall is of very poor competency, consisting of argillite,
which is graphitic in many regions. The hanging wall has a GSI<20
and ~10 when encountered in graphitic form. The hanging wall has a
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tendency to exhibit “chimney” failure where a drift back may unravel

in excess of 100% of its drilled height, especially when not blasted
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carefully. In contrast, the footwall is a somewhat more stable rhyolite

with typical GSI ratings between 20 and 30. Nevertheless, due to the
presence of clay minerals, it is very susceptible to swelling and
washing out in the presence of water.
The relatively shallow dip of the ore, around 35°, precludes the use
of conventional horizontal mining such as room and pillar as well as
Fig. 1. Wolverine Mine in Canada (YZC, 2014).
conventional vertical methods such as long hole stoping. Rather,
overhand and, more recently, underhand, cut-and-fill mining is The relatively heavy ground support requirements are dictated by
employed. Production headings are generally driven 4.5 m × 4.6 m the aforementioned poor ground conditions. Primary support consists
(width × height) at a grade of 2%. When the end of the ore body is of 8 ft regular (2.4 m) and 12 ft super (3.7 m) inflatable rockbolts with
reached, paste pipes are installed and one wall is retreat-slashed. After respective capacities of 12 t and 24 t. In addition, steel fiber
slashing, a cemented tailings backfill (CTB) is pumped from the mill reinforced shotcrete is used prior to bolting in some headings, while
regular shotcrete is sometimes applied after bolting. Shotcrete is
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 416 857 5551 E-mail: generally used for intersections, the main ramp, hanging wall
nick.yugo@alum.utoronto.ca
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exposure and wet footwall exposure. In cases where excavation
widths exceed 10 m or ground movement is observed, 18 ft
connectible inflatable bolts and/or steel sets may be installed (Shin,
2014a).
Prior to the start of vibration monitoring, instrumentation in use or
previously used on site includes multipoint extensometers to measure
movement at critical pillars, tilt meters to measure movement of steel
arches at the main ramp and load cells to record loading at the
shotcrete barricades. A recent addition to the instrumentation program
is vibration monitoring carried out with a Blastmate III with a triaxial
geophone. Vibration monitoring was introduced following a small-
scale wedge failure at the 1150 level, which will be discussed in the
next section.
The aim of the study was to find an effective way of measuring and
mitigating the impact of blasting-induced seismic waves on adjacent
mining excavations. Once this process is understood, mine planning
can be performed with greater confidence in the minimum required
pillar distance. In the case of Wolverine, the primary goal was to
verify that current blasting practices are not inducing damage in
neighboring tunnels. The approach focuses on underground
measurements that verify theoretical approaches derived from blasting
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theory and dynamic wave propagation.
The results are immediately applicable since blasting can be
adjusted underground by the engineering and operations department
immediately after each blast if required. In addition, precautions can
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be taken ahead of time if vibration monitoring indicates high or
potentially damaging stress wave propagation prior to blasting safety-
critical rounds.
A novel aspect of the study is that findings and results are
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immediately implemented at the discretion of the engineering staff in
collaboration with the mining production staff. Moreover, the setup of
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Fig. 2. Cross-section of 1150 wedge failure depicting geology, ground support and proximity to 1160WV level (Shin, 2014b). HW and FW stand for hanging wall
and footwall, respectively.
instrumentation is performed by engineers around the production
schedule and does not result in any lost production or downtime. This
results in an immediate, direct benefit to operations and further
encourages such research at operating mines.
2. Investigation of the 1150 level wedge block failure
Supported ground failed at the 1150 level, 10 m downdrift of a
pillar to the 1160WV level on 31 January 2014. A wedge of rock slid
in from the right wall which had been previously supported with 8 ft
regular inflatable friction bolts rated for 12 t each. A cross-section of
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the failure is shown in Fig. 2.
A photograph of the wedge failure is presented as Fig. 3. The
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failure occurred as a result of a combination of three factors: loss of
rockbolt friction resistance, separation or slip along a hidden fault
plane, and blasting damage from 1160WV level. During excavation,
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geological mapping revealed a shallow 12° joint set which was
assessed by a geotechnical engineer as having a low risk of sliding
failure. The hidden fault behind the right wall was not observed
during mining of the 1150 level as it was not seen in either the wall or
face.
After repeated blasting from the 1160WV level 7–10 m away, the
frictional resistance of the installed rockbolts was weakened and the
separation was induced at the hidden fault. A wedge was formed by
the intersection of the joint set and the fault that exceeded the capacity
of the installed rockbolts. The wedge then slid into the 1150 tunnel
during nightshift. No one was injured.
A rehab plan was issued calling for the region to be shotcreted, re-
bolted with 12 ft 24-t friction bolts and re-shotcreted. Another 50 m of
the drift were bolted with two rows of the higher capacity 12 ft bolts 1
m apart along the right wall (Shin, 2014b).
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below most blast peak particle velocity (PPV) while not being
sensitive enough to trigger by nearby non-blasting mining activity.

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Fig. 3. Photograph of 1150 level wedge failure.

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The four recommendations from the wedge failure investigation
were as follows:

(1) Rehab the region with shotcrete and 12 ft rockbolts;

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(2) Modification of the Ground Control Management Plan to
include mandatory 12 ft bolting when the slope distance
between sublevels is below 10 m;
Fig. 4. Wolverine underground 11 drilling pattern. Length is in meter
(3) Pull testing of sublevel regions to verify integrity of rockbolts
(YZC, 2013).
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following vibration damage;
(4) Vibration monitoring to determine the impact of blasting on
adjacent drifts.

3. Vibration monitoring
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3.1. Wolverine Mine blasting procedure Fig. 5. Wolverine underground 11 perimeter hole loading. Length is in
Underground blasting is carried out at the end of dayshift and/or meter (YZC, 2013).
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nightshift in accordance with Part 14 of the Yukon Occupational

Health and Safety Regulations. Rounds are loaded primarily with 32
mm × 400 mm Geldyne cartridges while 19 mm × 600 mm Xactex is
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used for perimeter control. An inert collaring agent, Envirostem, is

used in production rounds with greater than 50% massive sulfide ore
in the face to minimize the risk of sulfur blasts. The typical powder
factor is just under 0.5 kg/t, with loading and drilling performed
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according to Figs. 4–6. Fig. 6. Wolverine underground 11 production hole loading. Length is in
Note that there are 13 perimeter holes that are not loaded. The meter (YZC, 2013).
remainders of the perimeter holes, shaded in Fig. 4, are loaded with
Table 1. Available detonator delays.
Xactex as shown in Fig. 5. Finally, production holes are loaded as
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depicted in Fig. 6. LP period Delay (ms) LP period Delay (ms)

Initiation is achieved with Exel down hole non-electric detonators. 0 0 10 3500

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The down hole detonators are connected by shocktube to det cord at 1 400 11 4000

the face, which is initiated by two independent electric caps connected 2 800 12 4500

to the central blasting system. Eighteen detonator periods are 3 1200 13 5000

available with delay periods as shown in Table 1. Other relevant 4 1400 14 5500

blasting parameters are included in Table 2. 5 1600 15 6000

3.2. Vibration monitoring system 6 2000 16 6500

Starting in February 2014, a BlastMate III with a triaxial geophone, 7 2300 17 7000

calibrated in December 2013, was used to collect vibration data in 8 2500 18 8000

underground headings. While monitoring is currently ongoing on an 9 3000

as-needed basis, April 2014 was the cutoff for data included in this
Table 2. Wolverine blasting parameters.
analysis. Sampling is performed at 2048 Hz over three channels
Blasting parameters Description
corresponding to the standard orthogonal axes. A sensor check is
Primary explosive Orica Geldyne 32 mm × 400 mm cartridge
performed prior to each data collection and the event trigger threshold
Perimeter control Orica Xactex 19 mm × 600 mm cartridge
is set at 8 mm/s, which was found to be about one order of magnitude
Central blasting system Electric
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Production hole initiation Non-electric caps occur at the same time as a component PPV.
Powder factor ~0.4–0.5 kg/t Blasting damage is primarily achieved by stress wave interaction
with free surfaces (ISEE, 1998). Compressive stress waves induced in
Displacement, particle velocity, acceleration and frequency data are rock are reflected in tension upon encountering a free surface (Kolsky,
available along the transverse, longitudinal and vertical directions. 1963; Meyers, 1994). Since rock is much weaker in tension than in
The peak vector sum (PVS) is also reported for each blast as a compression, fracture occurs as a result of the reflected tensile stress
measure of the PPV not constrained to one of the three measurement waves (Jaeger et al., 2007). As a result, the axial PPV was used as a
directions. practical indicator of potential blasting damage and to gage whether
The PVS is simply defined as shorter rounds or special loading precautions were warranted.
2 2 2 The mechanism of stress waves damaging adjacent drifts is
PVS = max vaxial + vlongitudinal + vtransverse (1)
illustrated in Fig. 7. It can be seen that during normal blasting,

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For the purposes of this study, the PVS rather than any particular
compressive stress waves are reflected in tension at the free surface of
direction PPV is compared to the predicted PPV. The intent behind
a nearby tunnel, causing damage to the tunnel at the rock/excavation
using PVS is to more accurately back calculate the factor H discussed

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boundary. When the perimeter holes are detonated first, a boundary is
in the next section by removing the influence of the relative
created around the excavation reflecting the stress waves back into the
orientations of adjacent excavations. It should be noted however that
heading being blasted. An alternate method of mitigating damage is to

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the peak axial acceleration and PPV are thought to induce damage in
reduce round lengths from 3.5 m to 2.0 m. This reduces the charge
the excavation. As a result, the three directional PPVs will also be
weight per delay thereby reducing the magnitude of the stress waves.
presented. It is also to be noted that the PVS does not necessarily

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Fig. 7. Mechanism of stress wave induced damage at adjacent excavation. Length is in meter.
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By limiting tensile wave propagation to the drift being blasted, the 1150 level wedge failure. The results of the vibration monitoring are
extent of the blast damaged zone (BDZ) is minimized. Without pre- discussed in the following section.
shearing, tensile cracks may develop originating at stress wave
4. PPV predictions compared to measured PVSs
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reflection interface of the adjacent drift. For stable underground

excavations, minimizing the extent of BDZ is critical.
The PPVs were predicted according to ISEE (1998):
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A literature review by Xia et al. (2013) found that shotcrete −1.6

cracking occurred when vibration exceeded 700 mm/s or more. This  D 
PPV = H   (2)
corresponds well with recommendations from the Tennessee Valley  W 
Authority on vibrations >500 mm/s required to induce cracks in >10 where D is the distance from the blast in meters, W is the maximum
day old concrete (ISEE, 1998). charge weight per delay in kg, and H is a factor with an initial value
Vibration monitoring was carried out during the excavation of four of 1725. The factor H was also back-calculated from the measured
tunnels including 1160WV which is thought to have contributed to the data and is presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Blast data summary.
PVS (mm/s) Axial frequency (Hz) Axial PPV (mm/s) H Direction of wave propagation relative to
Mining level Rock type
Min.Max.Average Min. Max. Average Min.Max. Average Min. Max. Average strike/foliation
1160WV (n=13) 41 141 79 13 146 92 28 110 55 424 4375 1357 FW: Chloritic rhyolite Skewed, crossing fault
FW/ORE: Chloritic
1145 south (n=19) 53 234 97 9 175 108 19 175 75 565 4580 2366 Perpendicular
rhyolite/massive sulfide
1145MAR (n=2) 43 90 66.5 171 200 - 48 32 40 1721 2686 2204 FW: Chloritic rhyolite Parallel
1200 (n=5) 18 224 117 93 171 137 8 154 64.22 242 9370 2429 ORE/HW and ORE: Massive Perpendicular
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sulfide/argillite

Production in the 1160WV level resumed following rehab of the 1160 Pre-Shear 1160 Std
1150 level with shotcrete and the addition of 12 ft 24-t inflatable 150
141
rockbolts. Vibrations were monitored in the 1150 level during blasting

Measured PVS (mm/s)

at slope distances between 10 m and 27 m.
4.1. 1160WV level 100
92.1
Fig. 8 shows that while there is a trend between the predicted and
measured PPVs, there is also anomalous data between the predicted
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50−100 mm/s range. Another observation is that the recorded PVS
value is fairly consistently below the predicted upper range. In other

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words, this case has the lowest back-calculated factor H as can be
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seen from Table 3. This implies that energy transfer between the 0 100 200 300 400 500

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1160WV production level and the 1150 monitoring level is not Predicted PPV (mm/s)
efficient. Recalling the fault along which the 1150 wedge failure
Fig. 8. 1160WV level vibration monitoring.
occurred from Fig. 3, these results are not surprising. Rather, the

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lower than expected factor H serves to confirm the presence of a
1200 Pre-Shear 1200 Std
structure between the explosives and the vibration monitor that 250
interferes with stress wave propagation. Indeed, as discussed earlier, a
fault can act as a free surface to allow for stress wave reflection back
200

Measured PVS (mm/s)

to the source. Furthermore, damage occurring at the fault from

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reflected tensile waves may lead to movement and further dilation.
150
This would reinforce the previous hypothesis of blast-induced damage
along the 1150−1160WV fault.
It is also possible to see from Fig. 8 that changes in the loading 100
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pattern, i.e. detonating perimeter Xactex holes prior to the production
holes as shown in red squares, pre-shearing, did not appear to play a 50
significant role in reducing vibration compared to standard loading
practices. 0
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4.2. 1200 level 0 200 400 600 800

The 1200 level was the only case where stress waves travelled Predicted PPV (mm/s)
through competent massive sulfide ore. As a result, the highest Fig. 9. 1200 level measured and predicted particle velocities.
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recorded PVSs of over 200 mm/s were from this heading. In two out
of three cases where pre-shearing along the contour holes was From Fig. 10, it can be seen that the highest axial velocities
requested, the measured particle velocities were far lower than occurred at delay 0 corresponding with the perimeter holes detonating.
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predicted. In one case however, the recorded velocity was higher than It is possible that more than the perimeter holes were tied in with
predicted, as can be seen in Fig. 9. delay 0, causing a larger than expected particle velocity. About 12 kg
of explosives simultaneously detonating would be sufficient to
explain the observed particle velocities.
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VERT Periods
60
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40
1200
1400
1600
2000
2250
2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

7000

8000
400
800
0
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20
Radial PPV (mm/s)

-20

-40

-60

-80
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
Time (ms)
Fig. 10. 1200 level axial particle velocity, 2 m round.

Nevertheless, following the initial spike of just under 80 mm/s in the axial direction, no subsequent delay period caused vibration in
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excess of 20 mm/s. In this case, a discontinuity was successfully
created effectively reflecting stress waves and limiting propagation to
the adjacent tunnel.
Fig. 11 illustrates the same heading where a 3.5 m round was taken
with pre-shearing. In this case, there is a lack of pronounced initial
spike indicating much less explosives used at delay period 0. In
contrast to Fig. 10, an effective discontinuity was not created and
particle velocity peaked around delays 13−14.

VERT Periods
140

90
1200
1400
1600
2000
2250
2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

7000

8000

T
400
800

40
0
Radial PPV (mm/s)

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-10

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-60

-110

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-160
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
Time (ms)
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Fig. 11. 1200 level axial particle velocity, 3.5 m round.

4.3. 1145 level 1145 Orth OreFW 1145 MAR Parellel FW

Vibration monitoring was carried out on the 1145 south level and 1160 WV Skew FW 1200 Sheared Ore HW
250
the 1145−1125 ramp. In both cases, stress waves travelled through
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chloritic rhyolite footwall. In the former, wave propagation was

perpendicular to strike while in the latter it was parallel. Nevertheless, 200 y = 0.7286x
y = 1.0459x
the values of average back-calculated factor H were 2366 and 2204,
Measured PVS (mm/s)
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respectively. The similar figures indicate that blast vibration can

150
propagate across foliation layers without difficulty. This is in contrast
y = 0.3212x
to the H=1357 in 1160WV level where it was found that significant
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structural discontinuities such as faults adversely impact stress wave 100

propagation.
From Fig. 12, it is apparent that 1160WV level has markedly lower
50
measured particle velocities than the other headings. Note that when
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applying linear regression and setting (0, 0) as a valid point, a higher

H is implied for 1145MAR compared to the 1145 south level. While 0
0 100 200 300 400
this is based on a limited data set, the two regression slopes are closer
Predicted PPV (mm/s)
to one another than to 1160WV. In this case, more efficient
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propagation is along strike rather than across strike, which is more Fig. 12. Measured and predicted vibrations.

intuitive than the inverse suggested by averaging the values of back- 5. Vibration mitigation
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calculated factor H. Also note that a regression line is not provided for
1200 due to significant data scatter and that one point with a PPV of
around 700 mm/s is not shown on the graph.
Two principal methods were attempted to minimize vibrations, i.e.
pre-shearing as discussed earlier and shorter round lengths. The
notion behind shorter round lengths is that the explosive charge is
reduced when drilling 2.0 m rounds compared to 3.5 m rounds.
While Figs. 10 and 11 demonstrate the implementation of pre-
shearing, Fig. 13 suggests that it was not operationally successful in
reducing vibrations. As expected, vibrations were noticeably reduced
with increased distance regardless of the loading and blasting
technique employed. However, there was not an observable decrease
in PVS when pre-shearing was employed.

1145S (Ore/FW, Standard)
1160WV (FW, Standard)
1160WV (FW, Pre-Shear)
200
160
Meaasured PVS (mm/s)
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1145 MAR (FW, Standard)
1145S (Ore/FW, Pre-Shear)
to the rock mass and installed rockbolts and shotcrete liner. No
evidence of liner damage was noted anywhere. In addition, pull tests
were carried out to determine whether rockbolts had been loosened by
vibration damage. The United States Department of Defense
recommends a minimum tunnel spacing S for weak rock (DoD, 1999):
= 1.7 (3)
where Q is the charge weight per delay. For a charge weight of 20 kg

which exceeds any loading pattern employed at Wolverine, the

120 minimum safe distance is 4.6 m. This is equivalent to one drift width
in Wolverine and is the absolute minimum spacing for adjacent
tunnels. The least distance recorded in this study was 6.11 m.
80

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In particular, pull testing was carried out in the 1150 level
following rehab and additional blasting in 1160WV level. All tested

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40 rockbolts passed the pull tests. It can be concluded that the magnitude
and frequency of typical blasting carried out at Wolverine Mine are
not detrimental to installed rockbolts in and of itself.

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0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
8. PVS and component PPV
Distance between blast and vibration monitor (m)
Fig. 13. Impact of pre-shearing on PVS.
It can be seen from Fig. 15 that there is an expected positive
In contrast, greater success was achieved when shorter rounds were correlation between each component PPV and the measured PVS. A

used. As can be seen in Fig. 14, both the upper and lower bounds of
PVS for 2.0 m rounds are lower than those for 3.5 m advances. In
particular, there is a noticeable difference between the upper bounds.
This suggests that restraining round lengths to 2.0 m compared to 3.5
m was operationally effective in minimizing vibrations.
3.5m Advance
200
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more interesting observation from this graph is that the strongest
correlation is between axial PPV and PVS, suggesting that higher
PVS values, which can be analytically predicted, correspond to higher
damage-inducing axial vibrations. This can partly be explained by
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intentionally positioning the geophone as close to the blast in the
adjacent tunnel as possible. When the geophone is in line with the
2.0m Advance explosives, little transverse motion, that is, down the length of the
tunnel is expected. The relatively greater axial separation vs. vertical
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explains the greater axial motion. With limited vertical offset, the
160 longitudinal vibrations are not efficiently transmitted from one
Measured axial PPV (mm/s)

heading to the other. The observed relationship is numerically

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described below with a sufficiently high coefficient of determination:

120 = 0.7 ( = 0.87) (4)
,
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Axial Transverse
80 Longitudinal Axial fitted
Transverse fitted Longitudinal fitted
120
y= 0.7979x
40
(R²=0.7507)
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100
Measured component PPV (mm/s)

y=0.7011x
0 (R²=0.868)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 80
Distanace between blast and vibration monitor (m)
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Fig. 14. Round length impact on PVS. y=0.5932x

60
(R²=0.199)
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6. Frequency
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The BlastMate III measured vibration frequency up to 200 Hz. It
was found that most blasts induced vibrations were greater than 50 Hz
20
with some measurements exceeding 200 Hz. Due to this measurement
limitation, it was not possible to accurately measure the distance-
0
dependent frequency characteristics of blasts. Nevertheless, in
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
accordance with fundamental material properties, the relatively high
Measured PVS (mm/s)
frequency noted is less damaging to structures than waves of lower
Fig. 15. PVS and PPV components at 1160WV level.
frequencies. This is exemplified in blasting regulations with regards to
higher maximum PPVs at higher frequencies (ISEE, 1998).
The relationships were obtained with linear least squares
regressions and assigning (0, 0) as a valid data point in reference to
7. Pull testing and damage assessment
the fact that a zero PVS necessarily indicates null component vectors.
The low coefficient of determination for the transverse direction,
Following each blast, adjacent tunnels were inspected for damage
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2
R =0.199, indicates poor stress wave propagation in this direction due reflected at material boundaries (Meyers, 1994). In this case, wave
to the orientation of the geophone relative to the wave travel path and reflection and interaction may have attenuated P-waves travelling
multiple faults. In this case, stress waves are travelling through directly from the blast to the sensor and instead facilitated motion in
multiple foliation structures which result in scattering each time a new other directions captured by the higher than expected non-normal
round from a slightly different approach angle is blasted. vibrations observed.
The linear best fit lines with R2 values are given for relative
comparison only with low values, indicating complex interaction Axial Transverse
Longitudinal Axial fitted
between wave reflections crossing foliation and faults. The low values Transverse fitted Longitudinal fitted
are also indicative of poor stress wave propagation as opposed to high 250

Measured component PPV (mm/s)

values, which indicate a good wave propagation with minimal y=0.9233x
interaction and scatter. 200 (R²=0.9821)

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A summary of component PPV and PVSs can be seen in Table 4
with the m taking the place of the regression slope, 0.70 for example 150

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in the relationship described above. y=0.5474x
(R² = 0.9081)
100
y=0.5346x

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(R²=0.7007)
50
Table 4. Component PPV and PVS correlation.
2
Regression slope, m R
Mining level 0
Axial Transverse Longitudinal Axial Transverse Longitudinal
0 50 100 150 200 250

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1160WV 0.7 0.59 0.8 0.87 0.2 0.75 Measured PVS (mm/s)
1145 south 0.77 0.5 0.69 0.75 0.37 0.75 Fig. 17. PVS and PPV components at 1200 level.
1200 0.53 0.92 0.55 0.7 0.98 0.91
9. Conclusions
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A similar pattern is observed in Fig. 16 with the highest correlation As noted in the previous section, the PPVs observed in routine
seen between the axial PPV and PVS for 1145 south level: blasting at Wolverine Mine do not exceed 250 mm/s and are generally
, !" = 0.77 ( = 0.75) (4) greater than 50 Hz. Visual inspection of installed ground control
In this case, however, the coefficients of determination for the elements including shotcrete as well as pull testing of rockbolts
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longitudinal and axial PPVs were within 1% of one another, both reveals that damage thresholds have not been exceeded.
rounding to 0.75. A notable fraction of blast energy was transformed It has also been shown that higher velocities can be expected in the
into vertical particle motion along the wall. more competent massive sulfide ore than the rhyolite footwall or
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argillite hanging wall. In addition, it is possible to limit stress wave

Axial Transverse propagation by creating cracks between perimeter holes. The
Longitudinal Axial fitted
Transverse fitted Longitudinal fitted operational caveat to this is that when such action is required, the
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200 drilling and loading must be carefully supervised to ensure that

Measured component PPV (mm/s)

y=0.6927x technical instructions are accurately carried out. A more effective

160 (R² = 0.7494) method of controlling blast vibrations at Wolverine is to limit advance
y=0.7733x lengths to 2.0 m rather than the standard 3.5 m reducing the maximum
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(R² = 0.754)
120 charge weight.
Comparing measured PVSs to component PPVs revealed that the
80 y=0.497x most potentially damaging axial vibrations are not always correlated
(R² = 0.3773)
with high PVS. Factors including relative drift orientation, rock type,
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40 geological structures and lithological contacts play a role in

determining the magnitude of normally oriented or axial vibrations
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0
0 50 100 150
Measured PVS (mm/s)
Fig. 16. PVS and PPV components at 1145 south level.
Finally, transverse particle motion was dominant in the 1200 level
as seen in Fig. 17. The ground between the blasts and the vibration
monitor was heavily sheared and consists of ore and graphitic hanging
wall. In this case, the low correlation between the axial PPV and PVS
is not straightforward. The non-normal component PPVs, transverse
and longitudinal, have relatively high respective coefficients of
determination, 0.98 and 0.91, compared to 0.70 for the axial
component. A possible explanation is stress wave behavior at the
lithological contact boundaries. In a continuous solid material,
efficient propagation would be expected. Stress waves however, are
compared to PVS, or PPV regardless of direction.
200 250 The mapped fault in the 1160WV level had a notable impact on
vibration magnitudes measured in the 1150 level. Since not even the
highest measured PPV had a detrimental impact on installed ground
support, it is recommended that any anomalously low particle
velocities are carefully reviewed to make certain that they are not the
result of hidden discontinuities and faults. Indeed, careful inspection
of routine blast monitoring may reveal hidden geological structures
which may both pose threats to operations and provide opportunities
for better understanding the ore deposit.
In order to gain more insight into the impact of blasting activities
on adjacent excavations, future study may involve two geophones that
can be used to determine stress wave velocities through different rock
types. Multiple geophones would also give greater insight into stress
wave interaction at lithological boundaries and structures. In addition,
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
the extent of the blasting damaged zone briefly discussed in Section Department of Defense, USA (DoD). DoD ammunition and explosives safety
3.2 can be further studied with numerical modeling. standards. Washington, D.C., USA: DoD 6055.9-STD, 1999.

International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE). Blaster's handbook. 17th ed.

Conflict of interest Bainbridge, OH, USA: International Society of Explosives Engineers, 1998.

Jaeger J, Cook N, Zimmerman R. Fundamentals of Rock mechanics. 4th ed. Malden,

The authors wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of
MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
interest associated with this publication and there has been no
Kolsky H. Stress waves in solids. Mineola, NY, USA: Dover Publications Inc., 1963.
significant financial support for this work that could have influenced
Meyers M. Dynamic behavior of materials. New York, NY, USA: John Wiley and
its outcome.
Sons, 1994.

Acknowledgements Shin W. Wolverine ground control management plan (GCMP). Whitehorse, YT,

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Canada: Yukon Zinc Corporation, 2014a.

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution in logistics Shin W. 1150 wedge failure investigation. Whitehorse, YT, Canada: Yukon Zinc

IP
and data collection provided by Imran Haque, David MacDonald, Corporation, 2014b.
Cory Redmond, Neil Chambers and Procon Tunneling. The authors Yukon Zinc Corporation (YZC). Wolverine underground procedure #11 blasting.
also acknowledge support for the study received from on-site Whitehorse, YT, Canada: Yukon Zinc Corporation, 2013.

management, Mr. Floyd Varley, VP Operations at the time of writing,
Mr. David Bo and Mr. Murray Weddell, Deputy MGMs, as well as
corporate support from Yukon Zinc and Jinduicheng Molybdenum
received from Mr. Jingyou Lu and Mr. Aihua Dang.
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Yukon Zinc Corporation (YZC). YZC full orientation 2014. Whitehorse, YT, Canada:
Yukon Zinc Corporation, 2014.
Xia X, Li HB, Li JC, Liu B, Yu C. A case study on rock damage prediction and control
method for underground tunnels subjected to adjacent excavation blasting.

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Tunneling and Underground Space Technology 2013; 35: 1-7.
References

Nick Yugo is the Senior Mine Engineer at Yukon Zinc Corporation’s Wolverine Mine in the
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Yukon. He has worked at Yukon Zinc since 2012 and been involved in ground support and mine
planning. Prior to joining Yukon Zinc, Nick worked with the Deep Mining Research Consortium
to develop and test yielding ground support systems for rockburst prone high in-situ stress mines
including Nickel Rim South in Sudbury, Ontario. Nick graduated at the top of his class with
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Honors, obtaining a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Mineral Engineering and a Master’s
in Geomechanics at the University of Toronto.
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Woo Shin is the Technical Services Superintendent at Yukon Zinc Corporation’s Wolverine
Mine. He has worked at Yukon Zinc since 2011. Prior to joining Yukon Zinc, Woo had been
involved in variety of geotechnical assignments on underground mine development, numerical
modeling, tunnel support system design, and slope stabilization for open pit mine as a
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geotechnical engineer, consultant and project coordinator. Woo received a PhD from the
University of Alberta, Canada in 2010 and his thesis topic was “Excavation disturbed/damaged
zone in Lac du Bonnet Granite”.
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